


i love you too, yknow

by williamwheeler



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: M/M, anyway mike and will are so in love, what about it, yeah i’m posting an old christmas fic in august
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 12:00:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20291101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/williamwheeler/pseuds/williamwheeler
Summary: mike spends christmas day with will





	i love you too, yknow

**Author's Note:**

> idc if it’s august i found this old christmas fic in my google docs and decided to post it lol

“mike! mike get up it’s christmas!” 

the sound of his little sisters voice, combined with the fact that she was jumping on top of him, jolted mike awake. he took in his surroundings, snow falling outside and his sister wearing a red christmas sweater. he smiled, and told her he’d be down soon. she gave him a thumbs up and bounced out of the room, shutting the door.

if mike was being honest, he wasn’t very excited for christmas. it didn’t feel the same anymore. he was 15 now and everything that happened the previous year wasn’t making it better. he couldn’t help but find himself constantly worrying. constantly having nightmares and constantly wishing things could go back to normal. it felt as if he was carrying a constant weight on his shoulders that he couldn’t take off. no matter how much he tried to distract himself or do things that reminded him of when the upside down wasn’t on his radar. playing d&d reminded him of the night will went missing. watching ghostbusters reminded him of when will had an episode, and how he saw the pained look in his eyes as he went on about el. all in all, nothing was going to go back to how it was, and it was slowly killing mike from the inside. he felt like all his friends had moved on, and that he was the only one still feeling stuck. not only that, he had broken up with el, believing she deserved to be able to figure out the world herself without navigating a relationship. she was understanding, and they were still close as ever, but he still felt guilty, even though he knew it was for the best. and he didn’t even tell her the main reason he did it either. the main reason? will.

mike tried. he tried to suppress his feelings for will. he had been since about 7th grade. shortly before he had went missing, he didn’t wanna risk losing will over a stupid crush, so he didn’t say anything. of course. it  _ started  _ as a stupid crush. but slowly it progressed into more. it’s not that he had never liked el, he did, but the feelings he had for will grew, especially after he ended the relationship with her. he found himself staring at will in class. admiring his long eyelashes and soft pink lips, and the few moles that were scattered across his face, his bright eyes and kind smile. the way he would light up when mr. clark said something intriguing or interesting, and the way he focused hard when he drew, making sure to get every detail right, and proudly showing mike when he drew something he liked, a grin on his face and a look awaiting an excited response in his eyes. yeah, maybe it wasn’t a crush. mike could say he was in  _ love. _

the word love scared him. it meant commitment and it meant seriousness. now mike wasn’t bad at those things, but it still made his heart race and he would often find himself awake past midnight, playing out scenarios in his head that he  _ knew _ would never happen. he didn’t want to lose will over this. he didn’t want to end up telling him how he felt, and have to watch will explain that he didn’t feel the same. he didn’t wanna even think about the way he felt his face get warm when will gave him a compliment or smiled at him.

but he failed to do so. every day he would fall for will more and more. wishing he could hold his hand and call him his own. he didn’t care if everyone had an unfair stigma towards same-sex couples. he wanted to be with will so badly. and the fact that he  _ wasn’t  _ was messing him up. he wanted to just walk up to wills house and tell him everything and for will to say he felt the same.

but his thoughts were interrupted by his mom knocking on his door and saying presents were about to be opened. mike trudged downstairs, knowing he probably wasn’t going to get anything great. his parents were fed up with him at this point, always finding ways to get him in trouble, and his dad would say things to him like “you’re on the bench son” and  _ god _ he couldn’t stand when he said that. it made him want to scream. 

he got some sweaters and some candy in his stocking. typical. he wasn’t complaining as sweaters were his favorite article of clothing, but seeing holly get way more gifts than he did stung. his mom told him not to act ungrateful when he talked to her about it.

he spent the rest of christmas day in his basement, watching dumb movies. all his friends were probably with their families, so he didn’t bother asking if they wanted to come over. he instead daydreamed about him and will hanging out and playing in the snow, like they did every christmas when they were younger. he so desperately wanted to do it for real, but thinking about bothering will and having him say he couldn’t hang out gave him anxiety.  _ god, wheeler, man up. if you wanna hang out, ask. what’s the worst that could happen? _

so, he called the byers, and was relieved to hear will’s voice on the other end, and him joyfully saying he could come to mike’s and that he would be there soon. mike smiled hard after that, feeling incredibly giddy and excited to be able to see will again, it felt like it had been forever, considering his family had been hesitant about letting him do stuff with friends during the holidays, and he wasn’t seeing will as often since it was winter break. he waited in his front yard, at least three feet of snow covering it, and more continued to fall. he saw will pull up in his bike (his mom had finally started letting him ride by himself again), and smile at mike, running up to him. he was caught off guard when will pulled him into a tight hug.

“i missed you so much, mike.”

his cheeks burned, and he was praying that the blush wasn’t apparent to will. 

“i missed you too.” he said, clearing his throat. he was head over heels for this boy.

will pulled away, and mike was realizing that they were just staring at each other, but it wasn’t… awkward? mike couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was going on in that moment.

“uh, wanna build a snowman, like old times?” mike asked, gesturing to the front of the house where the most amount of snow had piled up. will smiled and nodded, and they attempted and failed at building a snowman, unsure on how to actually do it. but mike couldn’t care less. he was having the time of his life, and he couldn’t stop thinking about how cute will looked with the cold (at least, he assumed so) making his cheeks and nose red, and the adorable jacket, hat, and gloves he was wearing. he wanted to scoop will up and kiss him, but obviously that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

eventually they gave up on the snowman and they found themselves playing tag like little kids, running around and throwing snow at the other in an attempt to slow them down. mike wasn’t the fastest runner, especially not compared to will, so he ended up chasing will around the yard for a good ten minutes, laughing and almost, but not quite tagging him. will stopped for a second to catch his breath but mike hadn’t realized and he collided with the other boy, and suddenly he was on top of will, both boys breathing heavy and the cold taking a toll on their throats, making it feel like ice lined the inside. once he caught his breath and realized what their current situation was, his cheeks turned a bright red, and his wasn’t sure why he or will weren’t getting up. 

“you’re so pretty.” mike was taken aback.  _ what did he just say? did he just say that to me? am i hearing things right _ ?

he felt like he couldn’t speak. his whole body felt like the butterflies inside his stomach were setting it aflame, and he was at loss for words. 

“u-uh, i, that’s actually you, though?” he said, hoping he hadn’t killed his chances even though that was probably the worst attempt at “flirting” he’s ever done in his life. will looked away, and the smile he was trying to repress was adorable. suddenly, mike’s hand was at the nape of will’s neck and he wasn’t exactly sure what the _ hell  _ he was doing right now, but will looked up at him again with a look in his eyes he had never seen before.

“will, yknow i- i had a lot of fun. today. with you.”  _ god mike you’re such an idiot. speak a coherent sentence for once? _ “and uh, i’m glad i could spend it with you. i wouldn’t wanna spend christmas with anyone else.” he didn’t know what was coming out of his mouth then, but he let the words fly out. “i love you so much, will”.

_ what the actual hell mike? you did not just say that, did you? _

and then will leaned in slowly, and pressed his lips to mike’s, his eyes fluttering shut and mike swore that the world was frozen in that moment, even though the cold from the snow all seemed to disappear because his whole body felt hot. he kissed back, and it felt so right. it felt like he had been waiting his whole life for this moment. this didn’t even compare to the peck he had given el at the snow ball. this was something more.

when they pulled away, mike was frozen, but then a grin formed on his face and he knew that he probably looked so happy it was stupid, but it didn’t matter because will did too. his hands were carding through mike’s now messy hair, twirling the curls he found around his fingers. 

“i love you too, yknow.” will said, breaking the silence. his voice was so soft you could barely hear it. mike almost wanted to  _ cry  _ at how happy he felt then. his kissed will on the nose, and somehow, was smiling harder. if anyone was watching or if any of his family members saw through the window, he didn’t care. this moment felt so right.

“i’m glad. i’m so so glad. i’ve wanted to tell you for so long. so long will, but i was too scared.” he whispered, and he felt tears begin to spill at the edges of his eyes, but they were not of sadness (for  _ once) _ , they were of happiness because no words could describe how he was feeling right now. not happy, glad, relieved, jovial, excited. nothing. 

“me too, i thought you l-liked el or something. i wish i told you sooner. how… how long mike?” he asked, curiosity in his eyes, his hands still in mike’s hair.

“for like, two years maybe? crazy, i know.” he laughed, cupping will’s cheeks and kissing him again. he couldn’t seem to contain the giddy feeling that was taking over him. all of a sudden, the dread he felt for christmas earlier that morning changed to him believing this christmas was the best one he had yet. 


End file.
